


It's a White Christmas, Folks!

by cluelesspaladin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Good for the Soul, Humor, Hunk hosts the gang for Christmas, It's basically a Hallmark movie okay, Modern AU, shenanigans ensue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22121875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cluelesspaladin/pseuds/cluelesspaladin
Summary: After several years of only seeing one or two of his college friends at a time, Hunk decides to invite them all for Christmas at his humble home in his small town. It's soon clear, however, that he might have bitten off more than he can chew. Especially when it's more like he's invited four toddlers to stay instead.It's a good thing he loves them.-As if on cue, there was a loud bang and a curse from inside.“They started playing Monopoly.” Keith said simply.“I should have known.” Hunk shook his head.“I think they’re going to play UNO if they survive Monopoly.”“No one survives Monopoly.”“Especially if Pidge is playing.”
Relationships: Platonic Paladins
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	It's a White Christmas, Folks!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreams of Kalopsia (Sir_Arghs_III)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Arghs_III/gifts).



> Written for the Voltron Secret Santa 2k19 event! My recipient was dreams-of-kalopsia, who can be found on tumblr as well as AO3. 
> 
> Also, not going to lie. This thing is... a lot longer than I had anticipated.

“Okay,” Hunk muttered as he dug around the laundry for the pair of pants he swore he’d put his car keys into, “As soon as I find my keys we’ve got to get going. Keith’s flight gets in in an hour and I don’t want to be late!”

Lance, who had flown in the night before from the sunny Florida coast, reclined leisurely on Hunk’s comfortable bed, mustard yellow blanket draped around his shoulders comfortably. 

“Dude, chill out. It’s Mullet.” 

“If I don’t meet him at the gate then I will never forgive myself, and you won’t be getting any of my great-nan’s Christmas pudding if you keep up that kind of attitude.” Hunk raised a brow in his direction. 

“Fine.” Lance pouted, crossing his arms. “What time do Pidge and Shiro get in?” 

Pidge is tonight and Shiro is getting in tomorrow morning, but Pidge is driving out with Matt because his girlfriend lives this way. He might be bringing her by for Christmas dinner.” 

And this Christmas would certainly be an interesting one, indeed. With the crew of paladins (the term coined during a drunken party during their first year at Altea University) having scattered to the wind post graduation, Hunk had made it his personal mission to host them all at his home for the holidays. 

Which wasn’t too much of a change than when they had all crashed at his or Shiro’s dorm back in University. Hunk’s because of the food, Shiro’s whenever they had needed a place to crash after a party. Which had been rare, thankfully. Shiro couldn’t cook if his life depended on it, and with Matt as a roommate the only options were dubiously edible pizza in the fridge or playing Russian Roulette and cheating death with Shiro’s valiant attempts at creating something vaguely food-like. 

“Sounds like fun.” Lance said dryly. 

“It’s going to be. Get your feet off my bed, you heathen, you didn’t take your shoes off.” Hunk threatened, straightening as he brandished the car keys at the other man. “I don’t care if Nana let you get away with it, this is my house and I won’t tolerate this disrespect.” 

“Aye aye, sir.” Lance saluted, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and straightening into a languid stretch. “Let’s go get Mullet and grab some dinner- I’m getting hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.”

“It’s one of my many charms.”

“One of the reasons you’re still single, you mean.” 

“I resemble that comment, Hunkalicious.” 

Hunk huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes, shoving Lance toward the front door. “Come on then, _Sharpshooter_.”

-

“Keith!” 

Despite earlier grumbling about having to go and pick Keith up from the airport, Lance was particularly exuberant as he leapt high and waved his arm to catch the dark-haired man’s eye over the crowd. Given Lance was so tall, Hunk could see the exact moment that he saw the two of them- his lips quirked up in that small half smile that Hunk had missed, his red and white jacket over his shoulder and matching red carry in his other hand. 

(It could have been Lance or the sign that Hunk had made that said “Keith Samurai Kogane” that he caught sight of first, but he wasn’t going to ask questions.) 

Still, he shifted things around so he could raise his hand in a half wave right before Lance’s impatience won out and he made a break for it, slamming into Keith with the force of an oncoming storm. However, it turned into more of a tackle, leaving Keith staggering backward and nearly toppling if it weren’t for Hunk’s sixth sense kicking in and racing to fix the scenario before blood was shed.

“I miiiiissssedd youuuuuuuu.” Lance cooed, clinging to Keith’s side like some kind of parasitic leech. 

Keith snorted, patting Lance’s hair awkwardly as he silently pleaded with Hunk for rescue. 

“Lance.” 

Nothing. 

“Lance, you’re causing a scene. Please let go of Keith or we aren’t stopping at McDonald’s on the way home.” 

“Aye aye, sir!” 

Nothing kept him down. It was nothing short of a super power.

“I’ve got the air mattress set up in the spare room for you.” Hunk informed Keith as he grabbed his bag. “You and Shiro are going to share a room if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, no problem. Not like we didn’t do it plenty in Uni.” Keith shrugged, swatting at Lance as he made some kind of suggestive face that Hunk was lucky enough not to see. “As long as Pidge gets her own space. She’s a demon if she has to share a bed.” 

“Yeah, I’ve got her in the living room. The couch pulls out- Lance, you make a pun and I’ll make you starve.” 

Lance, mouth open with a shit-eating smirk, wilted. 

“I missed you.” Keith sighed in relief, leaning into Hunk’s broad shoulder with a warm smile. 

“We missed you too, buddy.” Hunk grinned, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “I appreciate you taking some time off to come out.”

“It’s not like I was doing anything other than sitting out in a shack in the middle of Nevada doing research on the remnants of a long-lost society.” Keith shrugged. 

“How is that going, by the way?” 

“Well, I recently found some new cave paintings in an outcropping not too far away from the shack. They look like they pre-date the last known paintings that were found in the nineties.” He started as they navigated the sea of people, Lance clearing a path with the ease of a man who had had to shepherd a family of eight through an amusement park countless times. 

They made it back to Hunk’s faded yellow van with little difficulty, loading his back into the back and banishing Lance to the backseat with countless protest because, “Keith just got here, he gets shotgun. You can have it when we go to pick up Shiro.”

And of course, there was the obligatory stop at McDonald’s to satisfy Lance’s endless need for carbs and salt- an extra-large fry and a coke were all he ordered.

“You’re a monster.” Hunk muttered, nose wrinkling as he handed back the bag of grease and salt. 

“And yet you love me enough to stop at McDonald’s.” Lance crooned, groaning as he opened the back and dramatically inhaled the steam from his fried food.

“Only because we know you’ll never stop whining if we don’t.” Keith deadpanned. Lance flipped him off before sticking a fry into his mouth. 

The rest of the ride back to Hunk’s place was spent with small talk being exchanged and some catching up. Sure, they all still kept in touch, but it was another thing to see one another and be able to keep everyone updated on their lives. 

And to be fair, Keith was in the middle of the desert. His cell service wasn’t great and he didn’t exactly use a computer unless he absolutely had to. 

He showed Keith the spare room and gave him the option between the heavy-duty camping cot (which was actually _very_ comfortable), or the air mattress. Granted, it wasn’t like there would be too much difference either way, considering the mattress was a double and may or may not have a hole somewhere in it. 

Hunk would blame Lance for it, considering he was almost positive that he had been the last one to use it, but would reserve judgement for later. It was Christmas, after all. 

Considering Hunk was the only one in constant contact with Matt (Pidge was driving because “Matt drives like an old man in the middle of winter”), he set up his GameCube system and tossed Mario Party 6 and 7 at Keith and Lance to fight over while he made snacks in preparation of more company. Pidge was about an hour out, and the natural competitiveness that Keith and Lance kindled whilst within a twenty foot radius of one another would do the rest and keep them occupied until then. 

-

Shiro’s flight, arriving at an ungodly 6 am, meant that Hunk was the only one up the next morning to get ready to go. However, bless his soul, he decided to put on a pot of coffee to sustain Pidge, who had groggily poked her head over the back of the couch to see who the hell had been brave- or stupid enough- to disturb her slumber, as well as making some of the essentials. Namely putting sausages in the oven and handing Pidge a cup of coffee in exchange for pulling them out when the timer went, as well as pulling a pack of bacon out of the freezer to thaw while he was gone. A full breakfast would come when he returned with the final member of their company. Unfortunately, Allura and Coran had been unable to make it this year, as they were visiting family abroad, but the pair had sent a lovely Christmas card to him instead. 

The early morning hour thankfully meant that there were no cars on the road- given that it was Christmas break for most, it meant an easy ride to the airport to collect the eldest of their group, and the only other person who was able to keep Hunk sane in the glaring face of the insanity waiting for them back at his place. 

“Shiro! It’s good to see you, man.” Hunk greeted as the familiar head of dark hair emerged from the bleary-eyed crowd of people disembarking. “How was Japan?” 

“Japan was good.” The older man replied, an easy grin on his face as he pulled Hunk in for a solid hug. “Not quite the same as the States though.” 

“We’re a certain brand of crazy you can’t get enough of.” Hunk agreed. “Fair warning, you and Keith are sharing a room, Pidge has the couch and Lance is bunking with me.” 

“You mentioned that the last time we talked, yeah.” Shiro nodded, running a hand through his hair with a wide yawn following it. “Although I don’t care as long as there’s half decent food. I can’t cook for myself.” 

“We know. It’s a good thing you decided to come visit now. You probably wouldn’t have survived until spring with your terrible cooking skills.” Hunk deadpanned. 

“Probably not. Cereal and instant oatmeal are staples in my diet when I do make an effort. Otherwise… a lot of take out.” 

“Which does nothing but drain your wallet. I know.” Hunk said sympathetically, patting his arm. “Come on, we should get going- I don’t even want to know what state the house is going to be by the time we get there. I put Pidge in charge of the breakfast sausages and odds are she woke the other two up to rub it in their faces because she’s a younger sibling and that’s what she used to do to us whenever she got a care pack from her mom in college.” 

“Yeah, I think getting back is a good idea.” Shiro shivered. He’d been in the same dorm as Matt- he knew the utter chaotic destruction that followed Katie Holt when she decided to apply it. “Have I mentioned how great it is to see you yet though?” 

“It’s great having you with us for Christmas, dude.” The other man grinned, clapping Shiro on the back. 

-

“I was gone for less than an hour. _How_.”

Sure enough, the sight that greeted the adults of the group was nothing short of a meme. Lance and Keith were squabbling over the last piece of bacon- obviously they’d been impatient enough to cook it themselves while Hunk was out- and Lance had just managed to get Keith into a headlock and was currently attempting to pry the bacon from his white knuckled grip. The only visible part of Pidge were her eyes, gleaming behind the oversized glasses she wore as she stared over the back of the couch with zero emotion. Odds were she was waiting for the chaos to be over before darting into the kitchen and refilling the coffee mug. 

“Oh, hey Hunk. Hey Shiro.” Lance greeted nonchalantly, like he wasn’t currently wrestling over a piece of fatty cooked meat _like a savage._ A moment later he shrieked as Keith gave up and sunk his teeth into the bacon, obviously getting skin in the process. 

“What the absolute hell, you heathen?” Lance demanded, letting the dark-haired man go in favor of cradling his red knuckles to his chest. “Who raised you, a pack of wolves?” 

“Maybe.” Keith replied smugly, licking the last bits of bacon off of his fingers. 

“We could leave and try this when you two aren’t behaving like wild animals.” Hunk suggested flatly, already feeling the headache coming on. “Or you can come say hello to Shiro.” 

Keith was already halfway there, Shiro one of his best friends. It had something to do with a hiking incident one weekend during highschool and neither man would say what had happened. Lance usually shrugged it was something to do with the homosexual agenda. 

They did the manly clap-on-the-shoulder-half-hug that most jocks seemed to do before Shiro snorted and pulled the shorter man into a full-fledged embrace, crushing the life out of him if the pained wheeze was anything to go by. 

“Good to see you, Keith.” He grinned, turning to grab Lance into a similar embrace. “And Lance- you look good considering you skipped out on going home for the holidays.”

“I’m _always_ fabulous.” He sniffed, tossing an invisible mane of hair over his shoulder. “But I wanted to spend Christmas with you guys this year. The family will still be there when I go home in the new year.”

“Awww, thanks man.” Hunk whispered dramatically, wiping imaginary tears from his eye. 

“You’re all emotionally disgusting.” Pidge muttered from her wall of couch.

“And _Pidge_.” Shiro grinned, smile turning just a tad dark. “My little adopted sister.”

“Shiro don’t you _dare_.” She growled. The narrowing of her eyes, however, gave away the primal fear that shot through her the second Shiro took a step forward, grin deepening. “Shiro, don’t-“

“Don’t _what_ , Pidge?” Shiro asked innocently.

“Shiro, _no_ -“ she threatened, her words lost in an animalistic shriek as the man lunged, diving over the back of the couch and toppling them both on to the floor. Hunk crossed his arms and looked to the ceiling, as though it might be able to offer some measure of explanation as to how he was the only one who seemed to have any measure of maturity in his body. 

“You know what, I don’t care.” He finally sighed, leaving Pidge and Shiro to sort it out amongst themselves as he wandered into the kitchen to start on an actual breakfast. He still had enough miscellaneous odds and ends- waffles, another pack of bacon, and fruit sounded like a well-rounded meal. 

He realized he would have to hit the store for the finishing touches for their Christmas dinner, and he was already dreading it. Shopping by himself was easy. Shopping with four other people who all had their own agendas was terrifying. 

He shuddered, grabbing one of the frying pans out of the clean dishes pile in the sink and getting to work. 

They would cross that bridge when they got to it. 

God help him.

-

Considering that there were really only two days until Christmas, not a single one of them (other than Hunk) had their shit together for gifts. And so, the best idea Hunk had ever had dawned on him. He would drop everyone off at the mall and they would meet him back at the car in two hours- more than enough time for him to go and shop for everything he would need for a Christmas feast, and enough time for the rest of them to get some shopping done. 

The only flaw was that Hunk was barely a half hour into his shop when Pidge texted him, showing up ten minutes later with her backpack and a lime green slushie. 

“I should have known.” He sighed, drooping slightly. 

“Probably.” She shrugged. “You have any peanut butter cookies?” 

“You are not eating those things out of a box. I’m making homemade ones at home and I’ll label them for you.” 

“I love you.”

At least one of them did. Heathens. 

The cart was well on its way to being packed to the brim by the time Hunk made it to the check out. Pidge e-transferred him enough to help cover whatever she had put into the cart- which was more than he had initially thought, considering how small and sneaky she could be.

She was vicious, but let it be known that there was a heart hidden deep down in that tiny body. 

Deep, deep down.

“So, tonight we’re going to do stir fry, tomorrow a casserole, and then Christmas a full ham dinner. Sound good?” 

Pidge gave him a thumbs up from the end of the till, several of the lighter bags slung over her arms as the cashier finished packing up. Her other hand was gripping her phone, thumb tapping away at the screen. 

“Great. Alright, let’s get this to the van and go pick up the rest of the funny farm.” 

She snorted at that, sticking her phone in her pocket and pulling her hair back into a tail. 

“You think Shiro’s ready to start drinking yet?”

“If he doesn’t have a bottle of something when we pick them up, I’ll be surprised.” Hunk shook his head in amusement. “But he’s the only other person who can tolerate them, so we’ll have to see for ourselves.”

(As it would turn out, Shiro was not actively drinking, but he had bought himself a bottle of vodka and was already losing the life in his eyes, so Hunk counted it as being right.)

-

Keith had just put away the last box of crackers in the cupboard when it started to snow. He blinked at it before pointing it out to Lance, who proceeded to plaster his face against the window in excitement. It wasn’t often that he got to see snow, let along be around for it to be fun, but Hunk had looked at the forecast and they were expected to get a white Christmas this year.

Pidge took one look out the window and made a face before burrowing deeper into her blanket burrito, hands clutching her mug of hot chocolate like it was the only thing that mattered. But it was Pidge so it was rather likely that it _was_ currently the only thing that she cared about. 

Keith… was indifferent. He did smirk at Lance’s whining that the window was cold against his cheek, though. He also seemed to enjoy the childish delight that lit up Shiro’s features from his spot on the couch next to Pidge, nudging Hunk so that he could also note and enjoy the expressions. 

“Lance, go sit down. I’m making cookies. Hopefully by tomorrow there’ll be enough snow to go sledding. In the meantime, pull out the Christmas movie collection and pick one.”

“Aye aye, sir.” He saluted, marching over to where he knew Hunk kept the holiday film collection. “Alrighty kids, we’ve got Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, The Year Without a Santa Claus, The Santa Clause trilogy…”

“I vote Christmas Vacation.” Pidge said immediately. “The soundtrack is great and it’s way too mature to be a kid movie.” 

“You’re like, thirteen, dude.”

“Say that again and I’ll break your leg and feed it to you, string bean.” 

“Guys, get along. It’s Christmas.” Shiro intervened, using the trademarked “Dad-Face” on the group sans Hunk. “All in favor?”

Lance looked mutinous, but even he raised his hand.

“Okay. Christmas Vacation it is.” Shiro nodded, gesturing for Lance to continue.

“I love this movie.” Keith smirked, grabbing a mug and filling it with enough cocoa powder to give a lesser man a heart attack. “I made Shiro watch it a couple years ago and it’s one of his favourites next to The Year Without a Santa Claus.”

“Shut up, Keith.” 

“Make me, old man.” 

“If you children are quite _done_.” Pidge grumbled from the couch, toeing Shiro’s thigh with a fuzzy socked foot. “I want to watch the movie.”

“Don’t we all.” Hunk rolled his eyes, going back to pulling everything together for his stir fry and mentally tallying how much each person would eat. To be fair, everyone was a bit of a heavy eater- Shiro would eat at least two helpings since he never ate correctly at home, Lance and Keith would probably each have one serving but eat enough for two or three servings just to prove a point, and Pidge would have a small plate but likely look for more later on because she was something of a raccoon crossed with a cryptid. That, and her strategic sleeping location. Hunk would probably have one serving himself, maybe two depending on how the supply lasted. “Am I making steak or chicken stir fry?” 

“Steak!” 

“Okay then. Dinner’s going to be an hour or so.” 

A small chorus of agreement met the statement, everyone but Keith riveted by the opening of the film. Hunk couldn’t the snort of amusement that escaped him. It was like he was babysitting his nieces and nephews, really. Except that these ones were in their mid to late twenties, had responsibilities, and clearly did not care whether or not they came across as immature or not. 

Wait, no. That last one was questionable. 

Oh well. He would come back to that later. 

-

Once the movie was completed, the food eaten and the dishes well on their way to being done, Hunk took a moment to himself and made a cup of tea, excusing himself to the back deck off the kitchen for a moment of peace. 

He loved his friends, he really did. But living alone and seeing them one on one every few months and hosting all of them at once were two very different things and he was needing a brief adjustment to the whole thing. Christmas was just a day away- Christmas Eve was tomorrow and Hunk still needed to get all the gifts under the tree from where he’d stashed them months ago. 

He planned ahead for these things- turned out anxiety did come in handy from time to time as an adult. Not that it didn’t make everything else stressful, but that wasn’t the point. 

The snow was already piling up, he noted as he closed the door behind himself. By morning, he was positive that there would be at least half a foot, if not more on the ground. Hunk would have to make sure that Lance actually managed to get into some real winter gear before he tried throwing himself into it the next morning; likely at the crack of dawn- he was an early bird _only_ when it came to the holidays. 

He leaned over the edge of the railing, inhaling the scent of the tea and feeling some of the tension in his shoulders recede. The backyard was lit with a soft light from the windows behind him and the streetlights behind the trees, the snow making everything seem like a painting. The flakes were only getting larger, settling into his hair and thick sweater the longer he stood there, but there was peace as well. 

It was a while before someone joined him out there, and Hunk was surprised to see that it was Keith. He offered a crooked grin at the larger man as he joined him at the railing, his large red scarf enveloping half of his face.

“It’s a bit loud in there.” He offered, leaning into Hunk’s side in an attempt to partially shield himself from the snow. “Turns out when you live in the middle of nowhere by yourself being around people again gets a little overwhelming.” 

As if on cue, there was a loud bang and a curse from inside. 

“They started playing Monopoly.” Keith said simply. 

“I should have known.” Hunk shook his head. 

“I think they’re going to play UNO if they survive Monopoly.” 

“No one survives Monopoly.”

“Especially if Pidge is playing.” 

They both laughed at the thought. If anyone managed to out play Pidge in her wheelhouse, it was a sign of the end times and probably time to get off planet or find somewhere to hunker down. She was a younger sibling and a Holt at that. 

Holts did not lose Monopoly.

“You get everything done you needed to today?” he started instead, taking a long sip of his tea. 

“I was done before I got here. The rest of it was making sure that Shiro didn’t get distracted and going to find Lance. He ended up in a Sephora.”

“His downfall is the makeup he can’t get while he’s at home.” Hunk chuckled. “But at least he always manages to stay happy enough.”

“As long as no one interrupts his stupid beauty routine.” Keith grumbled. Too many times during their college years Lance had made valiant attempts at dragging the dark-haired man kicking and screaming into his routine, and too many times Keith had narrowly escaped. “He looks fine to me?” 

“It’s Lance. We will never understand his ways.” Hunk said wisely, placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder and staring at him with the weight of a decade of dealing with Lance’s oddities. “We can only go with the flow and pray that we survive it.” 

As if by saying his name, the door slammed open, a terrified Shiro and Lance diving into the several inches of snow that covered the ground and shrubs, followed by a furious Pidge. 

Keith’s eyes lost a bit of life. 

“Too late.” 

-

After patching up Lance and Shiro’s scrapes and bruises (Lance banged up his elbow when he hit the ground and Shiro clipped Hunk’s rose bushes) Hunk made a mandatory early bedtime for the household. Never mind that it had been just shy of 7 pm; there was only so much he could take before he snapped and he needed some space to himself. 

Which resulted in him sitting on the couch with Pidge while she played Pokémon on her DS for an hour, an icepack over his eyes to ward off the inevitable headache that was coming on. She patted his knee when he first came to sit down, shuffling her feet around so they were pinned between his hip and the couch cushions for warmth. 

Turned out when one was sitting with their head reclined, it was very easy to fall asleep that way. 

Hunk woke to the familiar grasp of a tiny leech that was Pidge snoring quietly against his side, nothing but her nose and eyes showing from the large blanket she’d wrapped herself in. He twisted his head around the best he could, noting it was just about six in the morning. 

At least it was about his usual time to get up. Made it easier to justify. 

Grunting, he leaned forward, noting that the icepack was nowhere to be found. Pidge must have put it back into the freezer before she fell asleep. That, or it was buried somewhere in the deep dark depths of the couch cushions and he would have to fish it out later. 

He sincerely hoped that it was the former. He didn’t think he had it in him to pull apart the couch and clean on Christmas Eve. It just wasn’t going to happen. 

Hunk glanced down at Pidge, carefully extracting himself from her hands and replacing himself with one of the massive pillows that were _extremely_ comfortable. Lance had bought them for him after he’d moved in- a housewarming gift for one of his best friends. They were still some of the best pillows he’d ever had; not to mention that kept meaning to ask Lance where he’d found them in the first place or if he’d made them. It wouldn’t surprise him in the least if he had. 

Now extracted from Pidge, Hunk moved back into his domain- the kitchen. He’d brew a pot of coffee for Pidge and get started on breakfast first; no doubt that Lance at least would be up shortly in hopes of going to play in the snow. Shiro and Keith didn’t really sleep in, so it was unlikely that they’d be in bed for much longer either. 

The coffee went on with practiced ease before he turned his attention to breakfast. French toast and bacon sounded like a good idea. It was a good thing he kept so much of it in the house around the holidays- as a kid it was one of the staples that his parents used almost every breakfast. Now it was something quick and simple he could throw in a pan to satiate the savage’s hunger whilst he made the actual meal. 

What a world. 

True to form, Pidge poked her head over the back of the couch blearily about five minutes later. Hunk deposited a mug of coffee into her hands and left her be. 

Lance appeared ten minutes after that, surprisingly already in his winter gear sans boots and practically vibrating at the fact that there was over a foot of snow outside. Hunk took one look at him, nodded, and shooed him out the back door with a verbal warning not to wake up the neighborhood. 

Shiro and Keith were just stepping into the kitchen by the time Hunk got back to the counter; on autopilot, he handed Keith a mug for his hot chocolate and redirected Shiro to the tea. 

“Lance is outside.” He added when the pair didn’t immediately see him. “I was letting him out when you two got here.”

“It makes him sound like a pet.” Pidge slurred from the couch. 

“Isn’t he, though?” Keith replied immediately. 

“I can neither confirm nor deny these statements.” Hunk shook his head, looking to Shiro to see if he would do the same. While there was a small grin on his features, he shook his head minutely when he caught Hunk staring at him, raising his mug in silent cheers. Taking the road of least resistance. Hunk could admire that. 

“You guys suck.” Pidge grouched, pointing accusingly at Shiro and Hunk. “You won’t take either of our sides.”

“Nope.” Shiro chirped brightly, taking a sip of his tea. 

“Afraid not.” Hunk shrugged. “I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you.”

“Biased.”

“Just a little.”

“Are any of you guys coming outside? I want to build a snow fort and I need backup.” 

Everyone turned to the door, where a rosy faced Lance was beaming at all of them like Christmas had come early. Which, technically, wasn’t wrong. 

He waved cheerfully at Shiro and Keith. “Morning!”

“Breakfast first, Lance.” Hunk said immediately. “Then we’ll figure out a game plan for today.”

“The game plan is games. All day.” Lance shot back immediately, retreating for a moment to shake the snow out of his hair. “Also, it’s starting to snow again.” 

“Definitely a white Christmas this year. We’ll have to Skype your parents later and show the kids all the snow.” Hunk grinned. Lance’s siblings, nieces and nephews rarely made it to the cooler climates, and therefore rarely got to see this much snow. Unlike Hunk, who had thought living in a cooler climate would be fun. 

(Actually, he’d moved here because it was a slightly smaller town and had a better climate than where he’d been before, but that was a matter for another mental argument.)

“Uh, Hunk?”

“Yeah, what’s up Shiro?” 

“I think your French toast is burning?” 

_ “Oh my god I forgot about the French toast.” _

-

Pidge was, of course, exempt from any outdoor activities that she didn’t absolutely want to participate in, but it was nice that she decided to help Hunk and Shiro build their snow fort. Keith and Lance; for some unknown reason to _everyone_ \- had decided to pair up and make their own. Hunk had his suspicions that there would be a snowball fight brewing on the horizon. Especially since another couple of inches of snow had been added to the ground since breakfast and didn’t show any signs of stopping soon. 

He’d also left the kitchen window open so that he could hear if the oven timer went off- he had several batches of goods and his great-nan’s Christmas pudding that were needed for the next evening, and he really didn’t want to be stuck in a kitchen all afternoon on Christmas. Not while he had the group that he did in his house. Even though he loved them very, very much. He just didn’t trust them around his valuables.

“So, should we add the Voltron logo to the front of our fort?” Shiro asked, sitting back on his heels and staring critically at the work they’d gotten done so far. 

“Make it a window. That way we’ll be able to see those two monkeys coming.” Pidge immediately suggested. “And then they’ll wonder why they didn’t think of it and it’ll all go downhill from there. Because they’re not that bright.”

“They’re lucky they have their looks.” Hunk agreed. “Otherwise I’m pretty sure they’d be dead or in jail by now.” 

“There’s still time.” Pidge said flatly. 

“Please don’t get anyone arrested. It’s Christmas.” Shiro placated. 

“Christmas is the best time to get arrested. Matt got arrested for getting drunk and streaking down the road on a dare three years ago, and because it was Christmas and literally no one was home on the street, they let him off with a warning.” 

“There is so much to unpack there, and so little I want to know.” Shiro facepalmed. 

“He’d probably love to tell you all about it if he shows up for dinner tomorrow.” Pidge shrugged. 

“I let him know he and his girlfriend would be welcome, but I don’t know for sure.” Hunk added. “There’s going to be enough food, at least.”

“Hunk, your meals are usually enough to feed whoever’s staying with you plus half the neighborhood. Don’t worry about it.” Pidge rolled her eyes, eyes focusing on something above Hunk’s shoulder before screeching-

_ “Incoming!”  _

__

_ - _

__

“Lance, I thought we were friends!” 

“Hunk, Hunkalicious, Moon to my Stars-“

“No! You do not get any pudding! You betrayed me, dude!” Hunk sulked, toweling his hair off with the ferocity of… well- one who had been utterly betrayed by someone he’d thought was his best friend. “Pidge is my new best friend.”

“Awwww yeah.” She held up a peace sign from the floor. She’d immediately given up on life upon re entering the house, lied down in the middle of the kitchen after half-heartedly toweling herself off, and had yet to move from in front of the oven. (It was warm and it smelled nice; that was the only reason Hunk could see for her doing it.) “New BFF in the _house_.”

Lance drooped into Shiro’s shoulder with a piteous expression on his face. “I had it coming, didn’t I?” 

“About the second you decided to throw a handful of ice down his shirt, yes.” Shiro affirmed, patting his head sympathetically. “If you’re lucky, he might let you eat tomorrow.”

“He’ll be lucky if he eats tonight. And vengeance will come, dude. Whether it’s tomorrow or in three months or in three years, it will come.” He promised darkly, shooting a look at the Cuban that solidified the threat. “But it won’t be today, so you can eat. I guess. It’s the holidays.”

“Thank you, oh blessed one! I am not worthy of the ambrosia you create!” Lance bowed, dropping to his knees to further grovel. 

“You’re probably right. But I already know if I deny you food that I have to sleep in the same room as you, so I’m biting the bullet now rather than later.” Hunk deadpanned. “On that note, I need to check the casserole. Pidge, move.” 

“Noooooo.”

“Move, or risk being stepped on.” 

“Ugh, _fine_.” She muttered into the floor, rolling out of the way. Granted, she only moved something like two feet, but it was enough that Hunk could step over her and check on the casserole. Hunk had gone for a simple noodle and tomato combo with way too much cheese than should be allowable in a single meal on the top. Sue him, he was a cheese lover. Thankfully, everyone else was also a cheese lover, and thus the cheesy goodness would not be a problem. 

“Alright, dinner’s going to be in about ten minutes. Go change and dry off and I’ll find the blanket stash.” 

Keith saluted lazily before sauntering off in the direction of the bathroom, towel draped over his shoulders and hair. Shiro followed, likely going to grab an extra change of clothes from the spare room, while Lance started peeling off his damp outer layers to drape over the designated hooks for such things. Pidge… well it seemed like Pidge was content to remain where she was, relaxed in front of the oven. 

Strange woman. 

Hunk grabbed as many blankets as he could find- a higher number than he had initially thought- and brought them out to the living room, dumping them in the armchair for whomever would claim them. Following that, he turned off the oven and began grabbing plates and cutlery, taking care to not step on Pidge despite the fact she was almost entirely in the way of his process. 

Dinner was actually a fairly subdued affair. Considering most of the day had been spent outside playing in the snow, energy levels were low. Shiro had to stifle a couple of yawns into his elbow, and Keith was beginning to list to one side. Pidge seemed unaffected, apparently recharged after lying in front of the oven, and Lance was staring at Pidge from across the table, muttering under his breath about “best friends”. Which surprised absolutely _no one_ , because Lance was probably the most dramatic of their group. 

“If you guys are this tired now, does it mean we all get to go to bed and presents get to be opened tomorrow morning? Like how Christmas should be?” Hunk teased, even further amused when he received a mixture of shocked and accusatory looks from around the table. 

“We do it tonight, heathen.” Pidge brandished her fork at him. “That was the plan from day one. And then tomorrow, we let the boys play in the snow and we get to play with all of our new gifts.”

“You bought yourself a present, didn’t you.” 

“Of course I did. I always buy myself a present.” She sniffed. “That way even if Matt does the dorky thing and gets me something really weird, I get exactly what I want. It’s the Holt way.” 

“Sometimes I wonder about your family, dude.” Keith said. 

“Honestly, same. But then I remember that I adopted you nerds and then I feel much better about myself.” Pidge replied a little too cheerfully. “But I vote we have desert and put a movie on while we open presents. For ambience.”

“I can agree to that.” Shiro raised his hand tiredly. “But also, we should have a ten-minute nap because I feel like I got run over by something.”

“That was Keith. Keith ran you over.” Pidge pointed out, patting Shiro’s hand closest to her. “And we salute you for your brave and valiant service to this country.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Shiro snorted. “I’m just glad I managed to get him back.”

“You sat on my face, old man.” 

“That’s what you get when you disrespect your elders.” Shiro stuck his tongue out. 

“If you children are done, we’d like to finish the meal.” Hunk said mildly. “And it’s still early, so I say while I do dishes you guys can relax, I’ll get great-nan’s pudding ready and then we’ll watch a movie and open gifts. Sound like a plan?”

“You are the master of plans, my dude.” Lance said agreeably. “I can get on board with that.”

“Good.”

-

The dishes cleaned up, the pudding eaten- Lance got some because Hunk wasn’t a _complete_ monster- and the gifts opened to the closing credits of The Year Without a Santa Claus, Hunk and Pidge were the only two still awake. 

Pidge was still clinging onto consciousness by a string, her new self-gifted Nintendo Switch playing muffled sounds of a new Pokémon game into her chest as she blinked slowly into the ceiling. Lance had passed out almost the second that he had finished opening his gifts, to absolutely no one’s surprise. He’d been the first one outside and the one who had probably been doing the most that day. He’d gotten some new makeup from Shiro- namely eyeliner, to which Lance had laughed because he’d gotten Shiro the same thing. 

Keith had brought small fossils and semi precious stones he’d found out in the desert for everyone, and had gotten everyone a small tin mug to put them in. Practicality and fun in the same gift, Hunk supposed. Lance had knit Hunk a new blanket in mustard yellow, and had given Keith and Pidge sweaters because “neither of you two know how to take care of yourselves, so I did it for you”. Shiro had gone the slightly safer route of gift cards for everyone other than Lance, because Lance was the only one who could accurately be shopped for on a given day. 

Hunk had made small care packages for everyone so that they wouldn’t be completely starved when they returned home- Shiro’s had the most food in it because Hunk wouldn’t trust the man to not starve himself accidentally despite the fact that he’d made it this long. 

Pidge had apparently herded everyone to a photobooth on the day that they’d gone shopping, because her gift was a photo of her and the other three grinning at the camera. It was a family photo of sorts. One that he was going to hang in the living room and laugh at every time he looked at it because Pidge had photoshopped alien antennae on everyone’s head. 

The play screen for the movie popped up on the TV. Hunk flicked off the screen rather than waste the effort in getting up and taking out the disk. That would probably happen tomorrow, while everyone was chomping at the bit to watch Christmas movies while he made the big Christmas dinner they’d all been waiting for. 

It had been a chaotic few days, but Hunk wouldn’t change it for a thing.

“Merry Christmas, guys.” He whispered into the quiet room, smiling to himself. “Weirdos.”


End file.
